CDMA

As we continue to uncover interesting tidbits following Apple’s introduction of the flagship iPhone 5s and the plastic iPhone 5c this morning, a little-appreciated fact has now come to light. Both new iPhones are offered in four different hardware varieties each versus three different cellular versions of the iPhone 5.

The consolidated 5s/5c models offer more LTE bands than before, but the coolest thing is that in the United States a single version now supports AT&T, Verizon and T-Mobile. Additionally, a different version of the handsets will provide compatibility with Sprint and Japan’s KDDI and Softbank carriers.

Previously, there used to be two different US flavors of the iPhone 5, one for the AT&T and T-Mobile and the other for Verizon and Sprint networks…

Make sure you read that title very carefully before you get too excited. Yes, there’s a new jailbreak out, and yes, it’s untethered. But odds are, you’re not going to fit its compatibility requirements. It only works for CDMA versions of the iPhone 4, and the app only runs on Linux.

It’s called UnthreadedJB, and it’s developed by a group of people under the same name. To be fair, this is the first untethered jailbreak we’ve seen for iOS 5.1—I believe Absinthe 2.0 was for iOS 5.1.1—so it doesn’t come without acclaim. And several users have confirmed that it works…

I can confirm that the Verizon iPhone 5 is indeed GSM unlocked. Even though I bought an iPhone 5 from Verizon under contract, I was able to cut down my AT&T Micro SIM, and use it in my Verizon iPhone 5 to pick up an AT&T signal. By doing so, I was able to hop onto AT&T’s HPSA+ network, or “4G” as they so ridiculously name it.

AT&T’s so-called 4G speeds are nothing like true LTE speeds, but they are a bit better than typical 3G speeds. But the big news here isn’t about speed. The big news here is that we have confirmed that you can use a Verizon iPhone 5 on AT&T or T-Mobile, freely, even if you’re a brand new customer under contract.

It’s just been announced that the iPhone 4S will be available on a fourth US carrier, and no, it’s not T-Mobile. Oddly enough, C Spire Wireless, formerly known as Cellular South, will be launching Apple’s next smartphone soon.

C Spire will join AT&T, Verizon, and Sprint as an iPhone partner in the US. T-Mobile remains left out in the cold…

There has been some confusion as of late over just how both Sprint and Verizon are handling the unlocking of the SIM card slots inside their iPhone 4S handsets. Initial reports, beginning with Macworld, stated that Sprint’s hardware would come pre-unlocked, and Verizon’s could be unlocked by the carrier assuming the customer’s account is in good standing, and at least 60 days old.

From there, things all got a bit murky, at least on the Sprint front. While Macworld apparently had it spot on with regards to Verizon, it seems their guy at Sprint wasn’t telling the full story. Yes, the SIM slot on the iPhone 4S can be unlocked, but it wouldn’t actually be unlocked from minute one. Or, rather, it would, but then won’t.

We already knew that the iPhone 4S was going to be the first world phone to come out of the Apple labs, and that meant that both GSM and CDMA handset flavors would roam on the networks of international carriers. This was good news, meaning that customers of both Verizon and Sprint could now take their handsets abroad and continue to use them.

Now, there’s even better news for those customers, with Macworld discovering that they might actually have an advantage over AT&T (and all other GSM carriers across the planet), thanks to the unlocked SIM slot on the CDMA iPhone 4S…

Following the news earlier that the iPhone 4S won’t be available as an unlocked device until November, it’s also worth noting that only customers on GSM carriers will be able to unlock the 4S.

Apple touted the iPhone 4S as a “world phone” capable of running on both GSM and CDMA networks, but as usual there seems to be more involved when it comes to the fine print. Unfortunately, an unlocked iPhone 4S will only work on GSM networks…

Those keeping up with yesterday’s iPhone 4S event probably noticed a rather interesting tidbit saying that Apple’s iPhone 4S is, in theory at least, up to twice as fast at downloading data as its older brother, the iPhone 4. That’s obviously great news, and Apple sought to inform its audience yesterday that the iPhone 4S can compete with so-called 4G handsets.

The truth of the matter is that yes, the iPhone 4S can (again, theoretically) download data at up to 14.4Mbps, thanks to its use of HSPA+ technology. The problem? AT&T is the only one of Apple’s three US carrier partners that actually uses HSPA+…

Wow, if anyone was doubting that the iPhone 4S could compete with the latest and greatest crop of smartphones, would you like your crow served scrambled, or over easy?

The specs are ridiculous, and the “S” wholeheartedly lives up to its name by bringing significantly more speed, to the already capable iPhone 4.

On top of the obvious A5 processing speed increase, the 4S actually rivals 4G speeds when it comes to downloads. Not only that, but it features CDMA and GSM capabilities for true world phone functionality…

China’s third largest wireless provider has initiated a $234.5 million iPhone 5 promotion called the “Dragon Plan.” China Telecom is already training employees and setting up in-store advertising. One store has even set up a large LCD panel promoting the unreleased iPhone 5.

More interestingly, the carrier has already announced that it will begin selling the device in October. This report follows the comment of France Telecom CEO Stéphane Richard yesterday saying that the next gen iPhone would be available to customers on October 15…

The latest version of RedSn0w 0.9.8b was recently released by the Dev Team, and it includes two key components.

The first component, is compatibility with the iPad 1 iOS 5 beta 6 IPSW. Apparently, Apple updated this IPSW without altering its version or filename, so this latest version of RedSn0w features compatibility with both the original and updated files…